Toll from marine disasters shrinks

Marine disasters cost China around 7.3 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) last year, which was less than the average during the past decade, the national marine authority said on Tuesday.

Steps to improve monitoring and related forecast services in 2016 aim to improve the situation further.

In 2015, 10 storm surges hit the southern coastal regions, accounting for 99 percent of the 7.3 billion yuan in direct economic losses. The three provinces in the region - Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong - were hardest hit, both economically and in terms of casualties, said Zhang Yijun, deputy head of the marine disaster control center within the State Oceanic Administration.